5 Reasons You Need a Realtor When Buying or Selling a Home
The DIY “do-it-yourself” mindset is all the rage. And for many things, this is definitely a useful concept. But with the advent of almost everything being available online these days, many people seeking to purchase or sell a home don’t think they need a realtor. They are now opting to try to do it themselves to save on costs.
But is this actually a good idea? Purchasing or selling your home is one of the most important transactions you’ll ever make. And there are plenty of hurdles involved that make a realtor an asset you need to have on your side.
Here are 5 reasons you need a realtor when buying or selling a home:
- Lots of experience
- Large network
- Expert negotiators
- Protection from exposure to legal risks
- Champions of your real estate needs
1. Lots of experience
The first reason you need a realtor when buying or selling a home might sound obvious: real estate is a full-time job.
Buying or selling a home takes a lot of time, research, and availability. Whether you work from home or not these days, you likely have even more demands on your time than usual. If you have kids, you might even be tackling home-schooling now on top of your regular workload.
With all of these demands on your time, you don’t necessarily have the luxury of making yourself available anytime a potential buyer or seller of a home expresses interest. If you are busy with your actual job and miss a call from an interested buyer, you could miss out on a potential sale. Or you might be interested in a home for sale and can’t make contact with the seller until you’ve taken care of your other responsibilities. Then another buyer being represented by a realtor might make an offer before you even get a chance.
Hiring a realtor to sell your home or find your new one takes an immense workload and lots of pressure off of you and your already demanding schedule. They have all the experience necessary to take this responsibility and make sure your real estate goals are achieved.
2. Large network
The next major reason you need a realtor working for you is that a realtor has an extensive network and is advantageously connected.
While you might think you can take on buying or selling a home on your own because of the access to online listing sites, you might be selling yourself short. While you definitely can list or search for a home on your own, these sites are not exhaustive of all there is to offer.
Realtors know of properties not listed on these sites because of the extensive network of connections they’ve built up through years of being in the business. There might be other properties in your price range you wouldn’t know about without your realtor’s network. Or if you are selling a home, they can let their network know and put you in contact with more potential buyers than you would have otherwise.
3. Expert negotiators
When it comes to buying or selling a home, another reason you need a realtor is because of their expert negotiating skills.
You might think you are skilled in marketing on your own, but there is a specific language involved in real estate that you just don’t know unless you are in the business. If you don’t have a realtor but your potential buyer or seller does, you will almost certainly be out-negotiated. This could cost you thousands of dollars in either over-paying for a home or selling yourself short. The price on Zillow is not a guarantee.
A realtor knows all the rules and tricks of the trade. They’ll make sure you get the very best deal for your purchase or sale.
4. Protection from exposure to legal risks
One of the most important reasons you need a realtor especially when buying a home, is to help protect you from any legal issues you might not otherwise be aware of.
When selling your home on your own, there are potential issues that must be disclosed to buyers interested in your home. If you are not aware of these issues and do not disclose them beforehand, you could find yourself in an unfortunate legal situation.
A realtor knows all of the questions to ask. And they know what to look for in your home before listing it to avoid any legal issues that could cost you time, stress, and finances.
5. Champions of your real estate needs
Lastly, you need a realtor when buying or selling a home because a realtor acts as a champion of all of your real estate needs.
Buying or selling a home is no easy task. Ad possibly one of the most important transactions of your life (if not THE most important). Your emotions about it are likely to be heightened. And when you’re emotions are heightened you don’t always make the best decisions.
You might stick to a price that is too high when selling a home and therefore be unsuccessful at selling it. Or you might try to undercut prices too much when making an offer and never get the property you want. Either way, a realtor will be there to help guide you. And they’ll help make the best-informed decisions regarding your real estate questions.
A realtor works for you and navigates a sea of complicated paperwork until you get your new dream home. Or achieve your dream of finally selling your old one.
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